Short abstract
Directed by Bill Condon. UK release date: 4 March www2.foxsearchlight.com/kinsey/site/
Rating: ★★★★
Alfred Kinsey was a complex man who became one of the most famous—and controversial—sex researchers of recent times. Although people have questioned his ethics, methods, and personal life, he remains an important figure in sexology.
The importance of research underpins the whole of this movie about Kinsey's life and work. Cast members were required to learn about Kinsey, his study team, and his methods for taking sexual histories. Director Bill Condon decided to mirror Kinsey's interviewing technique “as a way into Kinsey's personal biography,” so the film is matter of fact about issues to do with sex, including Kinsey's own relationships and particularly his bisexuality.
Kinsey (played by Liam Neeson) grew up with a religious and domineering father, and as a young child he suffered from a number of serious illnesses, including rickets. As an adult Kinsey made a career as a biologist, specialising in the taxonomy of the gall wasp, but became interested in studying sex systematically after teaching “marriage” classes to his students, in which he found that he was not always able to answer their many questions about sex. He was, and still is, considered radical as a researcher for dismissing the idea of normality and instead describing the “common” or the “rare.” His attempts to welcome sexual diversity, in particular acknowledging homosexuality, simultaneously paved the way for greater freedoms for gays and bisexual men and women but led to hostile criticism of Kinsey.
Those who have done health research, but especially anyone who has studied sex, will enjoy watching interviews being recreated and be happy to see Kinsey actively supporting his research team, taking a leading role in interviewing participants, reviewing how best to take a sexual history, and training colleagues to collect data.
Figure 1.
Let's talk about sex: Liam Neeson as Kinsey
More surprising is the blurring of boundaries between some of Kinsey's work and his personal life, in particular his sexual relationship with a male research colleague; his unconventional marriage to Clara (played superbly by Laura Linney); and the frank discussions of sex with his family, including taking his father's sexual history.
Those who work in sexual health will find some moments of the film very poignant—particularly researchers who have struggled to get funding because of their research topic, had their work devalued or criticised, or been made to feel they were “unscientific” for studying sex.
The film is also interesting for a general audience, having a strong cast, beautiful cinematography, and a storyline that mixes humour, scientific interest, and humanity. It provides a powerful testament to the need for sex research and a greater acceptance of sexual diversity.
And it's very relevant. In the United States currently the religious right is targeting sex researchers who they feel are studying areas outside those of “traditional family values.” The drug industry is keen to create and measure sexual dysfunctions in order to market products; and in the media, from which many people glean much of their information on sex, the “sex survey” is now a commonplace and much misused and misunderstood means of filling copy.
Actor John Lithgow (who plays Kinsey's father) says of Kinsey that “he got people to say things out loud, real terrifying truths, and find out they weren't so terrifying.” For that he should be remembered, and this film pays a great man a great deal of respect.